This glorious production of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece Eugene Onegin will do much to burnish HGO’s already glittering reputation for nurturing young talent.
Based on Pushkin’s verse-poem, it tells of boy meets girl, boy snubs girl, boy realises massive mistake, boy gutted.
It is also one of the few operas where the heroine doesn’t die, and the man gets his comeuppance!
The notion of the Superfluous Male is well established in 19th century Russian literature – a class of rich, entitled and bored men who have no real purpose until they eventually inherit. In the meantime, theirs is a life of hedonism rooted in enveloping boredom.
Director Eleanor Burke has, inspirationally, transposed the story to the 80s and early 90s. For many young people, following the unleashed riches of the Big Bang, it was a time of drug fuelled partying and excess.
Sisters Olga and Tatyana (the wonderfully matched Arina Mkrtchian and Hasmik Harutanyan) have a busy but vacuous life of parties and fun.
Olga’s boyfriend Lensky (the brilliant Matthew Curtis (who almost stole the show with “Will Joy Shed a Tear?”) is wingman for Onegin (mean, moody, magnificent and terrifically played by Jolyon Loy).
The bookish Tatyana (“Thoughts have been my friend since I was a child) immediately becomes infatuated by him.
Having confided in Nanny (the outstanding and extraordinarily expressive Myrna Tennant) she writes to Onegin declaring her love. He replies via Nanny, telling her he would be no good for her.
Tatyana is devastated. He pushes off to sea to discover a few years later that she has married, and he has trashed his chance of love, security and a purpose in life. He rues his future of “… debilitating tedium”.
As ever, the HGO Orchestra were spot on, but the brutally stripped-down string section left me wondering what a full orchestra could have delivered.
The casting could not have been bettered: as they took their applause (after the emotionally ruthless final scene both Hasmik and Jolyon were both clearly affected) their collective sense of achievement shone through.
The production team, operating on a tiny budget, deserve much credit for delivering such a professional and polished production.
HGO's Eugene Onegin runs at Jacksons Lane Theatre Highgate until November 17th with a changing cast.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here